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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23586916">two sides of a coin (without a face to land on)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackley/pseuds/blackley'>blackley</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RuPaul's Drag Race RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Devil, F/F, Fluff, Heaven, Hell, Slow Burn, Supernatural - Freeform, angel - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:00:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,591</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23586916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackley/pseuds/blackley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All things must maintain balance. In good and in bad, one cannot outweigh the other. In weakness and in power. In peace and in chaos. All things - balanced how they should be.</p><p>Crystal is unsure of herself in every sense of the word. Her purpose, her friendship with her best friend Gigi, her thoughts; riddled in insecurity. And as if she were in a Shakespearean tragedy, she dies.</p><p>There are no mistakes in the workings of the world, she liked to believe. Perhaps, one had finally been made.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>two sides of a coin (without a face to land on)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi everyone, this is the first fic I’ve ever posted! I plan to write more and please stick with me, I’m bad at summaries but hopefully you can all get into this supernatural angel/devil AU with my two faves from s12.</p><p>please leave me some constructive criticism and let me know what you think :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was never meant to end like this. There were so many things Crystal was supposed to do. Ride a rollercoaster, get her heart broken, have her stomach pumped. Settle down, get a dog, have children and grow old. Die in a plane crash before you’re 29 wasn’t on that list. Yet, here she lay, accompanied only by the darkness around her. It was supposed to go differently.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, Crystal,” The sound of her best friend pulled Crystal out of her daze. She took a moment to familiarise herself with her surroundings. They stood in a food court, far from the gates. She turned to look at her friend with a wide grin, hoping to hide her lapse in concentration. “The gate’s up. Let’s go!” Gigi said, gesturing for Crystal to follow her. She nodded quickly, letting out a short breath, before gripping the handle of her small suitcase and skipping along to catch up. They walked at a comfortable pace through the walkways, since they had gotten to the Los Angeles International Airport in plenty of time, and exchanged small talk on the way. Crystal couldn’t help but daydream again.</p><p> </p><p>Gigi Goode was the name of Crystal’s friend. She was a goddess in every sense of the word, and Gigi knew it, too. Tall and leggy, with the face of a model enhanced excellently with her inch-perfect makeup. She had this aura, one that exuded such beauty and grace while never coming off as impertinent. Crystal was sure she had flaws, but in two years of friendship, she hadn’t worked out what they were. Gigi’s skin was flawless, her hair glistened, and her eyes looked like the kind of thing Crystal would want to get lost in. As Gigi looked ahead, Crystal studied her companion’s face, frowning inquisitively. Crystal thought she could love Gigi. Perhaps, she already did.</p><p> </p><p>Before long, their walk to the gate came to an end. It was still fairly quiet, with many seats empty. The pair picked out two spots and grouped their things together. The boarding wasn’t to start for another 45 minutes or so.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Gigi,” Crystal piped up. “You want to play some Mario Kart?” She held up her Nintendo Switch in one hand, stupid grin plastered on her face. Gigi nodded excitedly, and Crystal set up. She balanced the screen on top of one of their carry-on suitcases, and handed Gigi one of the JoyCons. Sweet Sweet Canyon, Mount Wario, Shy Guy Ruins and Cloudtop Cruise came and went, and the two girls were neck and neck with two victories each. Crystal had forgotten how good Gigi was at this game.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, that’s it.” Crystal giggled, slapping her friend’s leg softly. “No fucking around. It’s Rainbow Road time, girl.” </p><p>Gigi twitched an eyebrow and smirked, talking in a manufactured proper tone. “Crystal Elizabeth, I am the master of this game. You cannot hope to beat me.” The younger girl pretended to flex a bicep, much to Crystal’s amusement.</p><p>“I’ve beaten you twice, you bitch!” Crystal let a laugh. “It’s the final showdown!”</p><p>Gigi’s expression turned blank, and her voice lowered. “If you lose, we’re no longer friends. I can’t be friends with a loser.” Crystal’s grin turned into some sort of confused scowl for a brief second, before Gigi bellowed out a hearty chortle. “I’m joking with you, <em> loser </em>.”</p><p>Crystal put a hand on her chest and released a long exhale in relief. “Good. I swear, you almost gave me a heart attack.”</p><p>“But,” Gigi leaned in with a mischievous smile. “I won’t let you forget this defeat until the day you die.” </p><p>Crystal let out a cutesy chuckle. “Deal, Miss Goode.” With that, the Mario Kart race of the century began. The Missouri girl tried her best to keep her wandering thoughts at bay, but her mind let her down again. Gigi shot into the lead, cackling on the way.</p><p> </p><p>The pair had been friends for a number of years, after Crystal had gone to visit some family in LA. Gigi happened to live across the street, and the pair spent almost every morning enjoying each other’s company. They talked about anything and everything, and Crystal remembered that it was the most at peace she had ever felt. Gigi seemed to really care about what Crystal had to say, and what her life was like. It was all Crystal had ever wanted; to feel present in someone’s thoughts. She had spent far too many of her days floating, like a spirit. With Gigi, she felt like she was whole, solid and human.</p><p> </p><p>Six months ago, Gigi had gone full-time with her modelling career. During the initial months of their friendship, Gigi had modelled here and there, but nothing professional. She used to insist to Crystal that she wasn’t “nearly pretty enough” for it, but Crystal knew otherwise. She always believed Gigi would make it, and Gigi thanked her dedication by bringing her on as many modelling trips as possible. Crystal packed up her things in Missouri and moved to LA to be closer to her best friend, because, in Crystal’s justification, <em> if someone makes you feel so grounded, why would you be apart from them? </em> And so this time, they were to go to Milan for a show. Gigi had screamed down the phone at Crystal, so excited she could burst.</p><p>“I’ve always wanted to go to Milan, Crystal!”</p><p>“I know, G. Don’t you remember? You used to tell me on the lawn.” Crystal had said through the widest grin. Proud was the only word Crystal could associate with the feeling.</p><p> </p><p>There was an apprehension in Crystal’s mind, though. She loved all these feelings and thoughts she had about Gigi, but like a shadow on a sunny day, one devilish thought reared its ugly head too often. <em> She’s too good for you </em> , it would say. <em> She keeps you around because she feels sorry for you. </em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em> What a pathetic excuse for a person you are. One day she will leave and never come back for you. She won’t think twice. She doesn’t care. How could she ever love someone like- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Yeeeaaaahhh!” Gigi screeched in victory. Crystal blinked confusedly, retracting with a small shake of the head. Fifth. Gigi sprung up from her seat, and stuck her tongue out at Crystal. “Loserrrr!” She jeered playfully.</p><p>Crystal scoffed unconvincingly. She followed it with a small smile, having had her ponderings interrupted. “Yeah, I am.”</p><p>“What happened, Crys?” Gigi questioned, the joking tone in her voice fading.</p><p>“Nothing.” Crystal sounded far too defensive for her liking. Before Gigi could open her mouth to respond, Crystal gestured towards the gate. “Look, we’re meant to be boarding in a minute.” She quickly changed the tone. Gigi gave up with the question, and helped Crystal pack away the device and gather their things.</p><p> </p><p>◤◢◣◥◤ ◢◣◆◢◣◥◤◢◣◥</p><p> </p><p>The two girls took their seats on the plane, an Airbus A330. It was of a fair size, Crystal estimated it could carry two-hundred and fifty passengers and crew, perhaps more. They were sitting in the middle of the plane, more towards the front, in a three seat row. Bizarrely, the empty seat closest to the walkway was never filled as the aircraft was prepared for takeoff, with Crystal sitting in the middle seat and Gigi by the window. With all the luggage stowed away, and all passengers safely in their seats, the plane turned onto the runway.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal felt a touch on her hand, which was firmly clutching onto the arm rest. She glanced over to her right to see Gigi looking softly at her. Her friend proceeded to grab her hand completely.</p><p> </p><p>“You feeling okay?” Gigi asked. Crystal nodded apprehensively, which was responded by Gigi with a nervous dip of the head. “Great, because I don’t. God, I hate flying sometimes.”</p><p>Crystal’s expression melted into a smile. She released the arm rest to turn her hand into Gigi’s, grasping it tightly. “I got you.” She said, hiding her own concerns. Gigi rested her head on Crystal’s shoulder for a moment to express her gratitude. Slowly, the aircraft began to speed up. Faster, faster, faster, and within the minute it was in the air, with no problems. Once it had reached altitude, the pair sighed in relief, then looked at each other and laughed.</p><p>“You’re an idiot, Miss Goode.”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p> </p><p>It was a long flight, nearly 20 hours, so the two girls hunkered down and got comfortable when it was appropriate. Crystal moved to the empty seat to give the two a little more room - Gigi wasn’t famous enough for business class, yet. It was hard to talk much, given the noise, but the two managed to chat in intervals, sometimes about Italy, or Gigi, or Crystal. They passed the time watching movies and playing games.</p><p> </p><p>About 15 hours into the flight, and after a brief nap, the aircraft began to shake. </p><p> </p><p><em> “Hi all, not to worry. We’re just experiencing a little pocket of turbulence as we enter Portuguese airspace. Sit tight and fasten your seatbelts, we’ll clear this shortly.”  </em>The pilot reassured everyone. Crystal and Gigi complied with no qualms. And that seemed to be the case, as the area was cleared in around ten minutes and everything appeared to go back to normal. One girl peered at the other, but was comforted by their presence.</p><p> </p><p>All of a sudden, their expressions turned to confusion. Crystal could feel that dropping feeling in her stomach. Gigi scowled, jerking around quickly to stare out of her window. Crystal followed suit, cranking her neck to catch a glimpse. Faces turned to those of horror, as the girls noticed the clouds passing them overhead. It was almost like…</p><p><em> No, it can’t be. </em> Crystal’s eyes widened. <em> Are we...dropping out of the sky? </em> The rest was a blur to Crystal. She remembered hearing the pilot over the tannoy, telling them to brace. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “...small failure to the right engine…” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Knuckles turned white as Crystal had Gigi’s hand in a vice grip. She could see the tears brimming in her friend’s eyes. She was so focused on Gigi that she failed to take in any of the mass panic around her from the other passengers.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “...a controlled landing…” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Crystal was too shocked to cry, frozen in fear. Everything she was scared of was in front of her, in this moment. Gigi’s distress, <em> literally </em> dropping out of the sky, all the things she should have done. Get a dog, have children, grow old… <em> No, no, no! </em> She could feel the g-force around her, so strong. With her back pinned to her seat and her neck unmoving, Crystal summoned all the effort within her to glimpse at Gigi. She was completely unconscious, overcome by the physics. Crystal grimaced.</p><p>She wanted to tell Gigi she loved her. The one thing she promised to do before she died. However hard she tried, though, her mouth would not open to say the words. Was it the force? Was it the fear? Nevertheless, Crystal felt her eyes were wet with tears, but they could not fall. And so, stuck to her seat, wallowing in her failings, Crystal became drowsy.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want for your life, Crystal?” A memory of Gigi conjured itself in Crystal’s weakening contemplation. Crystal was put at ease right away, recognising the scenery. They were on the lawn in LA again, younger. Gigi was still beautiful, still an angel. What was Crystal saying? She always was. “Crystal?” The younger girl asked again. Crystal muttered a swift apology.</p><p>“I don’t know, G. I want to do a lot of things, like go to Europe, and get a dog, and ride a rollercoaster-”</p><p>“You’ve never ridden a rollercoaster before?” Gigi scoffed and reclined in shock. “Girl, you’re missing out.”</p><p>“Shut up!” Crystal interrupted, laughing. She let herself giggle for another moment before sighing, switching to a more serious tone. “But I want to be happy. Like, really happy. With a family and love and everything.” Gigi cocked her head. She leaned back onto the grass with a satisfied smile and hummed a sound of agreement. Crystal opened her mouth to speak again. “I just don’t want regrets when I die. That I didn’t do one thing and did the other. Or I missed out on meeting someone. Or I let my feelings get in the way of something amazing. I just don’t want to be dying and thinking about-”</p><p> </p><p><em> ...all the things I should have done. </em> Her eyes fluttered shut and her body hurtled into the ground. Enveloped by the warm embrace of death, Crystal’s feelings ran blank. Finally free from twenty-eight years of the anxieties and the inner saboteur, from the hyper-analysations and the over-thinking. If Crystal could form a thought in this moment, she might think that this was peace, in some sort of fucked up way. A fitting end for someone who was always just a little bit <em> too scared </em>.</p><p> </p><p>◤◢◣◥◤ ◢◣◆◢◣◥◤◢◣◥</p><p> </p><p>“Can you just work with me for a moment, Nicky?” A frustrated voice rang out. “There’s a lot of souls to harvest here, you know, plane crash and all.” The voice tutted loudly, eliciting a response from a second voice. Crystal could…hear? What was going on?</p><p>“Calm down, Jan.” ‘Nicky’ drawled. “Check the list. How many have we got left?”</p><p>The flipping of paper went on for a short time, before voice number one, ‘Jan’, spoke up. “Two-hundred and sixty-seven in total, and we’ve got one-hundred and three so far.”</p><p>“See?” Nicky chirped. She spoke with a subtle accent. “That’s not bad, we’ll be done soon.”</p><p>The gritting of Jan’s teeth could be heard from miles away. “Yes, <em> Nicky </em>.” The aggression was obvious with this one. “But we’ve already been here for seven hours!”</p><p>“Since when do you have a concept of time? We’re dead, idiot. We have all the time in the world.” Voice number two hissed. Jan growled, fumbling around with her paper. “Look, this one.” The voices grew louder.</p><p>“Crystal Elizabeth, number one-hundred and four.” Crystal could hear the sound of scrawling on a surface, and wanted to call out to them. <em> Help me! Please! Why can’t you hear me? Why can’t I say anything? </em></p><p>“A tree branch through the abdomen. Bled out.” Nicky clicked her tongue. “Looks young, too.”</p><p>Jan hummed a sound of affirmation. “Twenty-eight.” She sighed, flipping over yet another sheet of paper. “Marked for you, Nicky.”</p><p>“For the Below? Hm,” Crystal felt the presence of Nicky come closer to her, but could not reach out to her. <em> Seriously, why can’t I move? </em> “Even evil can look innocent.”</p><p><em> E-Evil? </em> “Now, now, Nicky. You know that sometimes we just have to balance the books, as it were. Maybe she isn’t so bad.” Jan reasoned with Nicky. The voice with the accent - French? - cleared their throat.</p><p>“I guess we’ll have to see. You’re coming with me, Crystal Elizabeth.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, both voices disappear, and the serene darkness around her fell silent once more. As Crystal tried to move, her lifeless body did not respond. She tried to reason with herself, <em> these are one of those end-of-life dreams, right? </em> She knew she had to be dead. There was no way she could have survived such a crash.</p><p> </p><p>The realisation hits her, then. <em> Gigi. Oh, poor Gigi. </em> She was gone, surely, and Crystal would never see her again. Crystal was not religious, in any sense of the word. In fact, quite the opposite. “When you die, you just rot!” she used to say.</p><p> </p><p>Oh, how she hoped that now, more than ever, she was horribly wrong.</p>
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